In a conventional method for conducting a search on the Internet, a user submits a search query through a search dialog box. In response to the search query, a search engine delivers a search result page (SRP) to the user. FIG. 1 illustrates an SRP generated by this conventional search method.
As shown in FIG. 1, the SRP provides ten search results on the first page and ten additional pages of search results that are related to the search term “Java.” Most of the search results on the first page are narrowly focused on one topic—the Java programming language. Meanwhile, the first and third advertisements displayed on this page relate to Java Hotel, which is entirely unrelated to the Java programming language.
One drawback of the conventional SRP is that the information the user is looking for may be hidden in one of the ten pages of search results. For example, the result (also referred to as the “minority result”) the user is looking for is Java coffee, not the Java programming language. The user would have to navigate and view multiple pages to find the information of interest. This process is tedious and time-consuming.
Another drawback of the conventional search methodology is that the user interface of the SRP is fixed to the format of a list of text results, and it offers no help to the user to narrow the search to the desired result. Since none of the search results displayed on the first page in FIG. 1 is useful to the user who is looking for information about Java coffee, the user would have to refine the search terms and conduct the search again. The time and effort used for this initial search is wasted.
Yet another drawback of the conventional search methodology is that the search is conducted on a key-word basis. It is done without using any (?) knowledge about the user or taking into consideration the context of the search terms. As a result, the SRP may fail to produce relevant information to the user, and some of the advertisements displayed on the SRP are out of context from the search results presented.
Therefore, there is a need to address the preceding issues of this conventional search methodology and its corresponding conventional SRPs. Specifically, there is a need for a method and system that would provide a progressive disclosure of search results for an online search.